


Devil Town

by Vicarious_Virgo



Series: I’ll put down my roots when I’m dead [2]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Child Soldiers, Gen, How Do I Tag, Kidnapping, Mild Gore, My boy literally just yoinked a child, Not Beta Read, Ranboo-centric (Video Blogging RPF), angst no comfort, did not edit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 10:15:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28543923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vicarious_Virgo/pseuds/Vicarious_Virgo
Summary: No one’s gonna catch us now.Ranboo and his misadventures after leaving his village.
Relationships: None
Series: I’ll put down my roots when I’m dead [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2083224
Comments: 64
Kudos: 373





	1. Run Boy, Run.

**Author's Note:**

> Will pay anyone 1 carbon dioxide molecule to write summaries. 
> 
> (That’s a joke^) 
> 
> Anyway, I had 2 different ways this fic could go and this is the one with the most angst :D enjoy!

Ranboo stared at the can in his hands, the cold from the cobblestone wall behind him causing a chill down his spine. He shivered, regretting deciding to eat in mom’s room. 

But that’s alright, he could eat with her to show that it was okay. Maybe she’s still scared, or tired. Pretending for so long was tiring, he would know. Even though he’d been asleep in the chest, he still felt tiredness weighing him down. 

First, he had to get rid of the hunger aching his stomach. 

The bread and rolls from before were inn their bag, resting between him and Mom. Eagerly, he took a slice of bread and placed it in front of his still mother. 

“It’s okay, look I have food! It’ll make you feel better.” He said with a smile. “It always makes me feel better when I’m tired and you’ve been asleep for awhile-“ he cut off his Enderonic ramblings as he got an idea. 

“Look!” He said, reaching into the bag for another slice of bread. He tore a piece of it off and ate it, making soft hums of delight. “See?” He asked, mouth full. “It’s so good, you should try it!” 

The hybrid woman remained still. 

The previous hums gave away to involuntary sad chirps. He looked down at his hands, still holding the slice of bread. In an eerie silence, he continued eating. Outside, the wind howled and whistles through the various holes in the house. Snow drifted in from the other side of Mom’s resting body, making Ranboo shiver yet again. 

The metal can of soup was cold in Ranboo’s hands as he thought about cooking it. How would he cook it? There wasn’t any coal in the kitchen or storage. He could start a fire, but most of the houses in the city were made of wood. 

Curiously, he tugged at the top of the can. His nails dug under the metal tab on the can, pulling as much as he could to get it open. The can didn’t open, instead one of his nails chipped down to the skin. He gritted his teeth in pain and set the can down, exhaustion and frustration bringing tears to his eyes. 

“Can you open this, Mom?” He asks, static humming underneath his words. Ranboo waits for a moment, the only response he gets is silence. 

Sadly, he feels his shoulders fall. He picks up his jacket from beside him and drapes it over his shoulders. He curls up next to his still mother, pulling the red blanket over his form. Ranboo makes sure Mom is still covered though, he doesn’t want her to get cold.

* * *

The next time he wakes up, he can tell something is wrong. Ranboo lurches up, his ears standing straight up on his head. Under the blanket, his tail is still. Carefully, he pulls his jacket on and stands up. 

His eyes quickly adjust to the darkness as he looks for his boots. They sit beside the door a few feet away. The cold floor chills his feet despite the pair of socks on his multicolored feet. Once he reaches the door, he steps into his boots and exits the room, casting one last look to his mother. 

The glass bottle in his jacket pocket rattles as he moves through the silent house. The sound almost seems to echo until he slips a hand in his pocket to silence it. 

Eventually, he reaches the front door and opens it slightly. The air is almost colder on the other side of the door, but he keeps looking anyway. Behind him, his tail flicks back and forth. His ears remain straight up, desperately listening for anything outside. 

A dark figure walks in front of the door, not noticing the green and red eyes tracking his movements. Ranboo watches the man walk past, and waits until the man is halfway down the road. With an excited chirp, Ranboo reaches into his pockets for his gloves. 

He tugs them on eagerly and flips up the hood on his jacket before barreling out the door. 

“Mister! Mister!” He calls out in accented common. Speaking Enderonic for so long caused some of his words to be slightly distorted, but most of the time his words were clear. Mom even said so! 

Almost immediately, the man turns and faces Ranboo. He begins approaching, his boots crunching in the snow. 

“Quickly, Mister! My Mom needs help, she hasn’t moved in awhile- I think she might be sick.” He rambled, fiddling with his hands. 

The man’s pace picked up as the snow began falling harder. The sound of the man drawing a blade travels on the winter air. Ranboo can feel unease settling in his stomach and he takes a step back. 

“M-mister-“ He begins, a sound of distress leaving his mouth. He takes a step back almost on reflex. The man’s speed picks up and through the pale white snow, Ranboo can see the moonlight reflect off of a blue blade. 

Ranboo stumbled back again, tripping in the snow. He meets the ground with an _oof_ as the snow goes through the hole in his jacket. Under the adrenaline getting ready to enter his blood, Ranboo can feel the burn on his elbow. The moment passes and Ranboo forces himself up, feeling the wind from the man striking where he once was. 

Panicked, Ranboo keeps running, his feet sinking into the snow with every step. He turns and looks back at the man, seeing him almost within arms length. 

He turns his attention back ahead and keeps running, snow hitting his face and leaving burns in their path. Tears enter his eyes as the wind howls, blowing the hood off of his head. Alarm bells are ringing in Ranboo’s head, alerting him that at any moment the man will grab him and cut his head off- 

_Just like Miss Stone._

His chest heaves as he pushes on, a screech leaving his mouth as the snow picks up and his face burns and his eyes sting- 

He can see the edges of a spruce forest just ahead. Ranboo can barely see the trees through the rages snow and he focuses on the area. Mom taught him how to do this many times. All he has to do is focus his energy on his chosen spot, high up in a tree. He can feel it working when the sound of shattering glass fills the air. 

A rank smell filled his nose and his nose and eyes begin to sting. Exhaustion’s cold grip tugs at his muscles and he feels his eyes slide closed. Sleep calms his mind, all panic chased away by the need to sleep. 

He opens his eyes to discover he’s laying in the snow, his hood barely keeping the snow from burning his face. The flakes should burn, but he can’t feel it. He blinks for a moment, eyes feeling like heavy molasses. 

The next time he opens his eyes, the scary man is standing over him. 

All he can think about is how sure he is his mom will come save him. 

~~He’s scared.~~


	2. And He’s coming for you, Yeah he’s coming for you.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No matter what he does, what rule he breaks, punishment man is always out to get him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for implied/ retrenched child abuse and just child endangerment in general. 
> 
> Please be careful reading this, I will add a short summary at in the end notes for anyone who still wants to know what’s going on <3 
> 
> Stay safe and enjoy. 
> 
> (Also pls let me know if any tags should be added!)

The first time Ranboo wakes up, he’s in a bed. His mind is hazy and he has to rub at his eyes to clear them. The motion of moving his arms is met with a dull ache surrounding his upper chest and left shoulder. He winced softly and puts his arm down when it’s halfway to his eyes. Instead, he uses the right one to clear any crust away. 

With heterochromatic eyes he scans the room. Everything in the room is white, almost blinding. From the corner, a blue tinted light was on. The light burned his eyes so he looked anywhere else. 

Straight across from his bed was the door. On the left side there was a coat rack, his jacket hanging from it. On the right side was a mirror. Closest to the bed was a white dresser. The corners closest to the bed were scuffed, drops of a red liquid splattered on the top surface. 

On the top surface sat a leather cover book and a familar bottle filled with scarlet liquid. Oddly, the child noticed something dangling around the glass neck of the bottle. Two gemstones glistened in the white lighting, one was an emerald green and the other was a familar deep red. 

Where had he seen that red before? 

....Mom! 

It’s the same color as her eyes. Quickly, he kicks the white blanket off his lower half and stands. Eagerly, he walks the two steps to the dresser and grabs the necklace off of the potion. The metal slips easily over his head and around his neck. He smiles down at the two gems and sprints excitedly to the mirror. 

Ranboo stared and takes in his appearance. His hair is messy, tangled. His ears are standing up straight on his head, but they slowly begin lowering as he takes in the rest of his appearance. The white side of his face is decorated in healing burns, the once white skin a pale lilac. The same side of his neck is decorated with the same burns, and he can faintly remember snow and agony but the memory slips through his hands like sand. 

One of his ears flicks as he scans the rest of his appearance. The grey long-sleeve he has on his unfamiliar and oversized, the same as the grey sweatpants. The neckline slips down past his collarbone where ink is on full display. He turns his head so the black part is facing the mirror. 

There, on his collar bone, in white ink is a number. 

_540897_

That’s the first time he sees the number.

* * *

The first time he hears the rules, he writes them down in the blank leather book on his dresser. 

1\. You only get the food we give you.  
2\. Don’t give others your food, don’t take other’s food even if they offer.  
3\. No sharp objects.  
4\. You must wear the clothes we give you when on the base grounds.  
5\. You may not leave without special permission.  
6\. When and if you get let out, no speaking of your experience here.  
7\. No speaking of your life before here. This is your life now.  
8\. Training round goes until someone bleeds.  
9\. No crying.  
10\. No raising your voice.  
11\. Only speak when spoken to.  
12\. Any rule breaking will result in punishment.

The second time he hears them, he’s biting back tears as the lashes are brought down on his back. Each crack of the leather is representative of each rule he has broken. 

Punishment man is the same one from the snow city. His eyes are always so dead when he gives a punishment- and he makes Ranboo count each lash. Ranboo bits down screams and replies in a voice threatening to break. 

Prime he doesn’t want to break rule nine. 

~~Where’s mom?~~

* * *

The first time he takes a class here, he finds that the teacher is really nice. She reminds him of Miss Smith in a way- 

~~Rule seven.~~

She doesn’t mind re-teaching him some things after class. She doesn’t mind him eating in her classroom. She doesn’t mind listening to his ramblings as he writes the same sentences over and over. She doesn’t mind repeating the sentence in common until he can say it in common. She doesn’t mind giving him a punishment every time his accent slips through the sentence. 

She doesn’t mind explaining that this isn’t the first time they met. She doesn’t mind explaining that he forgot again. Doesn’t mind explaining how he’s trapped. 

Ranboo likes her.

* * *

The first time he makes a friend, he’s sat in the library with his book. He’s drawing a picture of a lady with a child, she has red eyes. His legs are swinging under the table and his tongue is poked out of the corner of his mouth. For all the pain each movement is causing him, he can’t help but be content for the moment. 

That’s when he speaks up. 

“What are you drawing?”  
“A picture! I don’t know who it’s of though.. I made it up!” He replies with a smile. 

He smiles back and leans over the drawing from the other side of the table. “You should add some flowers! And the sun.” He suggests. Ranboo nods and grabs a yellow marker. 

“You’re right.” The sun goes in the corner. Ranboo looks down at the drawing in his leather book and feels warmth spread from under where the necklace lies against his chest. 

His caretaker for the day tugs him out of his chair, yet through all of it, He is there. Ranboo tells his caregiver all about his new friend as they make their way to the training grounds.

* * *

The first time- 

~~This isn’t the first time, Ranboo.~~

~~The sec-the thir-the four- the fifthsixthseventheighthninthtenth-~~

Ranboo goes to the training ground, he’s against an opponent three sizes bigger than him. He dodged as many blows as he could, even kept moving when the blows did land. Black and white bruises formed on his skin, only motivating him to keep moving. Eventually, his opponent faces him. His guard is fully down. 

Ranboo takes this moment to strike, remember a past session. He dives through the gap between the teen’s legs, the heel of his booted foot catching a weak point as he dove. The teen kneeled in pain, knees buckling. 

That’s all Ranboo can confidently remember about the first ~~twenty-third~~ session. 

He can remember the dark red blood caked on the pavement as He was ushered away from the training grounds. He can remember the way it went down the drain as he washed his hands. 

Ranboo remembers breaking rule nine.

* * *

The first time ~~fourth~~ his birthday comes around, no one celebrates. They don’t even say a happy birthday. 

The teacher from before does. She asks him questions about sentences written over and over again in a lether book. She asks him to translate the sentence to Enderonic. 

Ranboo says he can’t remember, even if they words and hums are on the top of his tongue. 

She asks Ranboo to repeat the sentences from those years ago. He feels himself smile as he repeats it without looking at the paper. 

“I am safe here. Nothing can hurt me. I train to bring honor to my facility in the hypixel competitions.” 

“Say that first bit again.” 

“I am safe here, nothing can hurt me.” 

“Do you believe that?” 

~~”Do you, Ranboo?”~~

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I?” 

Ranboo gets his first hug in ages after that.

* * *

The first time he realizes he doesn’t remember what his mother looks like, he cries.

* * *

He outgrows a lot of things throughout his time here. He hits his growth spurt and suddenly his towering over the kids in the facility. Ranboo’s caretakers say it’s because of his enderman genes. The other kids try to take advantage of his awkward limbs, after all he was used to being smaller, but they fail. 

One actually got close to beating him, though. 

Ranboo still doesn’t believe that the caretakers didn’t see the water bottle in the enemy teen’s hands. It smashed over the back of his head when he was on the sand covered floor. It didn’t cause any bleeding, but it burned. 

It burned so bad that everything after that was a blur. A bloody, screaming, blur. 

Rule number thirteen is made specially for him when at age fifteen. 

13\. No using teeth during training sessions.

* * *

The first time he walks out of the disciplinary office with it on, he realizes he is truly alone. No one looks in his direction, and if they do, Ranboo can feel the fear. Ranboo can hear as they whisper as he passes. He guesses it’s justified. 

But as he sits down with a tray of food, he reaches a dilemma. 

How is he supposed to eat with it on? Was he meant to? 

The question sparks frustration in him, and he angrily pushed the tray off of the table. His only meal for the day, gone in a fit of frustration as he struggles to remember why it was on in the first place. 

He gets a punishment for wasting his food. As the water from the shower burns him, he realizes that the muzzle makes it much harder to scream. 

He stays under the water longer for breaking rule nine. 

~~It’s always rule nine.~~

~~Is it? It’s alright. I’m okay.~~

“Why?” He asks. It’s late the day after he got it taken off. 

“Because I’m safe here.” Ranboo replies, mouth sore and vocal cords strained. His jaw aches and for the first time in weeks, he doesn’t cry himself to sleep. 

It’s always rule nine. He doesn’t want to break it again. 

It feels as though no matter what happens, the punishment man is always out to get him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: 
> 
> Ranboo is taken to a facility where a number is printed onto his collarbone. He finds a necklace with two gems, one red one green. He notes that the red gem looks like his mother’s eyes. The facility has rules each one has consequences if broken. Ranboo breaks a lot of them over the course of this chapter (seven years) and forgets most of it due to this. Most of the paragraphs at the start begin with “the first time” until about halfway through. He makes a friend in the library, yet he is only referred to as “He.” 
> 
> Ranboo gets muzzled for using his teeth during an unfair ‘training session’ (these are fights against other teens that only end when one fighter bleeds). The night after he finally gets it taken off he talks to “him” saying that he’s safe in the facility. No one would hurt him. 
> 
> “It feels like no matter what he does, punishment man is out to get him.”
> 
> * * *
> 
> Thanks for reading <3 
> 
> Psssssssttt:
> 
> Spotify playlist for this series??? Yay or nah?


	3. “Outside, that’s where we can be free.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something important happens when Ranboo is 15.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, I’m tired and in pain :) I hope you enjoy, this is not proofread or anything so I’m sorry. 
> 
> Enjoy <3

A lot happens when he’s fifteen. The rule is made, the muzzle is on so much that they design one so he can eat. His memory is becoming more and more fuzzy, and at night he feels numb. 

He’s use to it. 

Finally, he realizes he’s been talking to himself this whole time. “He” has just been Ranboo thinking. Ranboo doesn’t mind this development, it makes him feel less lonely. 

One morning, when the white walls are tinted orange from the sun, his door is opened aggressively. Ranboo jumped up at the sound, looking at the now opened door as a wheelchair was pushed in. Ranboo feels his ears lay against his head. The people coming into the room are in white lab coats and are wearing rubber gloves. 

Before he can mumble out a question around the muzzle, there were hands on him. He thrashed immediately. He was so confused and scared and tired. Something falls off of his dresser as he thrashed around, the people’s grip on him left bruises. Eventually, they all over power him and force him into the chair. 

The strap him in and everything. That doesn’t mean he stops struggling. He pulls against the bonds on his wrists, the skin becoming raw. Before they leave, the person pushing the wheelchair pulls on his hair. His head is brought back so he can stare up at the person, all fight left Ranboo as he stared at the person. 

~~The eye contact makes him want to scream. You’re wearing a muzzle, Ranboo.~~

“When we walk out this door, you will be calm. Got it?” The person’s tone was blank, yet Ranboo could easily hear the threat underneath their words. He nods, and with one last tug on his hair, the person lets go. 

Ranboo keeps his eyes on his feet as he is wheeled through corridors and eventually passed the cafeteria. He could feel all of the eyes on him and his hands clenched. He itched to do anything, speak, peel at his finger nails, anything. Ranboo didn’t even know where he was going or why. He hadn’t done anything wrong, right? 

~~Of course not. You’ve done everything right.~~

_Then where are we going?_

~~I don’t know.~~

_That’s alright, we’ll be fine. We have to be._

Eventually, he is wheeled into what appears to be a shower room. However, no water ever makes contact with him. Instead, an acid smelling gas was sprayed into the air. He was warned to close his eyes and hold his breath and he did just that. 

He later learned that this was a cleaning chamber. 

The next room Ranboo was taken to a room that was as blindingly white as his bedroom. The bindings on his wrists and legs were roughly taken off. Unfortunately, the muzzle was left on. 

Ranboo stood in the middle of the room until the door’s lock clicked shut. Finally, he was alone. Apprehensively, he rubbed at his wrists. The bruises there marked his skin a lilac purple. Oddly, the room has the exact same layout as his room. One thing stood out however. There, laying on a cot was a suit. 

A full three piece suit. 

He took a step towards it, and hesitantly felt the fabric. The cotton of the shirt is such a nice change from the polyester blend of his sweater and sweats. The rest of the suit felt cool and new. A simple note was on the cot next to the clothes. 

“Get changed.” 

Ranboo didn’t hesitate to begin changing. The new clothes even included a change of socks to better match the suit. The process was smooth, other than the muzzle getting caught as he pulled off his grey sweater. Other than that moment, the change was easy. It felt good to wear something other than the usual clothes he wore over the years. 

He had the shirt and suit jacket on, as well as the slacks, and just needed to put on the shoes. He sighed and realized he also needed to put on the tie. Ranboo sat on the cot and pulled on the dress shoes. He didn’t quite understand what or where he was going he knew the consequences for asking. 

Ranboo shivered at the thought. 

With slightly shaking hands he tied his shoes. They ended up being sloppy, so he ended up tucking the strings into his shoe. The shoes felt completely different from the usual combat boots, Ranboo found himself unsure if he liked the change. On autopilot, he tied the tie around his neck. For once he was thankful for those awful classes he was forced to take. 

~~They do more harm than good, though.~~

“Then why are they helping now?” Ranboo replies, folding his collar down. He doesn’t think of a fitting response. 

The door clicks open and Ranboo finds himself straightening up, his shoulders squared. His stiff stance relaxes slightly when he notices the teacher from before was there. 

“Hello, Ranboo.” 

He nods to her response, the muzzle keeping him from speaking. The woman scoffs and approaches him. Her manicured nails rest under his chin as her fingers pull his head down more. Her hands gently make their way to the back of his head where the muzzle straps are. Ranboo finds himself comforted by the touch. 

~~”She’s hurt me so many times though.”~~

~~”She’s not hurting us now, maybe she finally lov-likes me!”~~

Ranboo is so caught up in the comfort that he doesn’t notice the muzzle’s clasps click and pull apart. He sighs when the metal is finally pulled away from his mouth. The air hits his mouth and chin. It feels good. The woman places the muzzle on top of his old clothes and hands Ranboo a folded cloth, some gloves, and a glasses case. 

He looks down at the gloves and sees familar white and black gloves. 

_A deserted city, with ash covered snow.  
A woman cursed to an eternity long rest.  
A raid.  
A confused child._

Ranboo shakes the thought away and pulls the gloves on. They fit perfectly on his hands, and something in him warms up at the familiarity. He slides the folded fabric into his suit pocket and opens the glasses case. A pair of dark tinted sunglasses stare up at him. Ranboo can make out all of his facial features. 

Around his mouth is scarred, with deep scars from the muzzle. 

~~It’s so easy to imagine blood dripping from his mouth-~~

He pushes the thought away and quickly puts the glasses on. With steady hands, that no longer shook from his anxiety, he unfolded the fabric in his pocket. It turned out to be a face mask. He put it on and sighed, thankful that this was at least easier to breathe in. 

“Where are you taking me?” He askes, his voice much deeper and raspier than he remembered. 

“You’ve been selected to represent our facility in the Hypixle games.” The woman smiles brightly. 

~~Someone has smiled at us like that before.~~

_Have they?_

At the woman’s sentence, some childish part of Ranboo is singing. Some part of him that survived that long forgot night in the snow. The same part that survived the consequences, that survived the punishment. Somehow, it lived through the long tearful nights. Through regret and misery. 

The childish part of him was singing a long forgotten song titled ‘hope.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg I can’t wait for y’all to read the next chapter! 
> 
> Also I’ll link the playlist for this entire series in the morning, I am in Spain without the s. 
> 
> <3


	4. Your Hair Is On Fire, You Must Have Lost Your Wits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy my serotonin has tanked and this doesn’t really fit with my expectations but I hope y’all enjoy nonetheless! <3 
> 
> Gore in this chapter!

“So will I be able to leave?” The question slips past his lips unwillingly. Ranboo finds himself regretting it, even when he notices the woman’s facial expression didn’t change. 

“We can only provide your freedom if you win. Walk with me, Ranboo.” She turns and leaves the room. Ranboo trails after her like a lost puppy, thankful that he wasn’t forced into the chair this time. 

“These facilities were made to keep kids like you, abandoned and unloved, safe. They were also made to prepare you for one of the harshest servers to exist, Hypixel. Only a few people actually survive.” She leads him down a new hallway, paintings lining the walls. 

There are smaller ones at first, and they slowly get bigger. The second largest one has a man in a green hoodie and a porcelain mask on. The design carved into the mask is a smiley face, while the wounds on his face paint a less than happy picture. The picture that takes up the most of the wall is of a man with pink hair. His face is covered with what seems to be a pig skull, Ranboo was barely able to make out red pupils in the black eye sockets of the skull. 

For the man in the green hoodie, the name ‘Dream’ was carved into the gold under the photo. For the man with the pink hair, the name ‘Technoblade’ was carved in the gold and filled in with rubies. 

“If, and only if you live and win, you will be granted your freedom. It’s best to look as harmless as possible at first, but everyone here knows you’re a monster. You should show them out there too.” Her words are dripping with honey and affection. 

Starved of any type of love or promise, something in Ranboo absorbs the words like a dehydrated plant finally getting water. “What’s your name? I forgot again.” He mumbles, lowering his eyes to his shoes. 

“You can call me Mom.” 

“Alright, Mom, when do we leave?” 

~~The word feels like acid burning his vocal cords. It feels wrong- like calling someone the wrong name.~~

* * *

Ranboo doesn’t remember much of the journey to the portal, but he does remember his first step outside of the facility. 

The summer wind blows gently against his face, at the least the parts of it that are exposed. Strangely, the feeling doesn’t release him from the shackles the facility forced onto him. There were no bonds on his hands or feet right now, prime even the muzzle was off. 

Something still felt caged, still felt cold. 

Summer was still cold in this Devil of a place. 

Ranboo did notice two flowers frowning under a tree nearby. One on the right was a vibrant red while the other was a wilting, almost dead green. 

He kept following Mom after that. Eventually, they reached a portal of some kind. 

_That’s all he remembers._

~~”If you lose, we’ll make you wish you could die permanently.”~~

_That’s all he remembers._

* * *

Ranboo went through the portal alone, he ends up somewhere unfamiliar too. It’s dark, he can only make out his own hands and a screen in front of him. 

**Welcome to hypixel! You will be playing skywars! You will be dropped in on a random island with supplies, your goal is to be the last one alive. You have 1 free life, after that your deaths are permanent!**

**Your position in Que:3**

And suddenly, white filled Ranboo’s vision. He seemed to be encased in glass. Looking around, Ranboo could see other people also encased in glass. In the distance, a siren went off and the floor underneath Ranboo’s feet opened. 

Thankfully, it wasn’t too high up. Ranboo only stumbled slightly when he landed. Once gathering his bearings, he hurried over to a chest nearby. He opened it and was greeted with the sight of a diamond pickaxe, a chest plate and leggings, and a pair of gold boots.   
There was also 32 dirt blocks. 

Quickly, Ranboo put the armor on. He sighed as he fastened the last buckle on his chest plate, thankful that his hands finally stopped shaking when he was nervous. 

Ranboo took the pickaxe in his hand, it weighed more than the swords he was used to sparing with but it was alright. With the blocks in his inventory, he began quickly building to the central island. He dodged in coming projectiles, watching as the people on neighboring islands were sent into the void. 

Eventually, he was about two feet away from the central island. He backed up a little and ran, using the force from this to jump and land on the island. He used his momentum to roll, his pickaxe landing right beside him. 

Ranboo picked it up immediately, the sounds of someone approaching causing his ears to prick up. He stands, and waits for the other person to make her move. The lady lunges towards him, iron sword glistening in the sunlight. 

Ranboo blocks the blow, the force making his wrist numb for a moment. He moved on with speed, swinging towards her unguarded side. The hit lands, and as blood leaks from the wound, her body disappears in a puff of white spoke. Her loot drops. 

Hastily, he replaced his iron chest plate with his opponent’s diamond one. He latched the iron sword into his holster, just in case. 

With that he keeps moving. He manages to sneak up another person, pushing down the momentary pride he takes in watching their form disappear. It’s almost a high know that the one person who cares about him will be proud. 

Eventually, he proudly wears blood crusted diamond armor over his suit. Something in him under his skin is humming. Like a machine finally used to fulfilling its purpose. 

~~He hates it.~~

_But she’ll love it. They’ll love me even if I’m a monster._

It’s just him and one other person at this point. Their similarly geared, an enchanted sword in their hand and a bow resting on their back. It’s tense for a moment, both of them waiting for the other to make the first move. The entire arena seems to be quiet, despite the crowd of recently respawned spectators. 

Finally, his opponent moves. 

Arrows begin flying towards Ranboo, and quickly he throws down a speed and strength potion. The potions make everything around him come into better focus, and he rushes towards the enemy dodging arrows as they come close to grazing him. 

Once within range, Ranboo swings the pickaxe towards the man’s middle. The blow is blocked by the diamond sword and pretty soon they’re trading blow for blow. The metal of their weapons spark as they hit each other. The sound fills the air, Ranboo keeping the same pace as before. His enemy is pushing himself too much and seems to be on the verge of panicking. 

That’s when Ranboo strikes. 

The enderman hybrid lunges right with his pickaxe, as though trying to get a hit on the enemy. The man stumbled to block it, and in return Ranboo hooks his foot behind the man’s foot and pulls. 

As predicted, the enemy’s balance is thrown off. Before the man even touches the ground, Ranboo’s pickaxe has found itself buried in the man’s throat. As the blood sprays up, Ranboo sees a sign light up over each island. 

**Winner of Round One: Ranboo!**

The final enemy’s body disappears, and Ranboo takes off his blood caked sunglasses. 

_Round one?_

* * *

Ranboo doesn’t remember round two. 

_Doesn’t remember the bone crushing pressure as he was thrown into the void. Doesn’t remember the air being forced out of his lungs or the sounds of each bone breaking. Doesn’t remember agony of his skull shattering-_

He was now on his final life. He realized he did that to people. He’d taken away their one bullet to fire. Ranboo can’t help but notice how empty the spectator arena is.

* * *

The third round finally comes and the lobby is down to about half the players. It’s a haunting feeling, knowing that people permanently died around him. He can even see a few bodies from the last round strewn around the middle island. Ranboo shakes the thought away and finishes bridging across the void. The coast seems clear, so he rushes to the center and enchants the pickaxe he, once again, started with. 

Ranboo sprinkles the blue lapis powder on top of the table, ignoring how it stained his gloves. He laid the pickaxe across the table, watching as the tool floated for a moment. Words in an ancient language carved themselves into the side of the wooden handle. Once it’s done, Ranboo reads the enchantment. 

Efficiency two. 

Not too bad, Ranboo supposes. That means faster swinging. This was proven correct the next battle he had. The efficiency plus a speed potion made him quickly disarm his enemy. Ranboo tried to supress the voice in his head saying this was necessary. 

~~These are people too.~~

Naturally, the number of people dwindles. Ranboo will never remember the eyes begging him for mercy, he’ll never remember the screams or the crunching of bones. He’ll never know the bodies he piled up. Maybe that’s for the better. Maybe it’s a good thing he’ll never remember who’s blood is decorating the grass on this island. 

Because as Ranboo watches fireworks explode in the sky, declaring him victor, he can’t help but have one thing on his mind. 

_What’s he doing here?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel awkward asking this but if anyone wants to be friends I’m on discord:  
> Virgo #3550
> 
> I’ll prolly check it in the morning/afternoon cause tonight didn’t pass the vibe check


	5. The Clock Stopped Ticking Forever Ago...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter. 
> 
> Enjoy friends <3 
> 
> Tw:  
> Mentions of scarring

Months passed in a blur. A blur Ranboo didn’t have the energy to even try remembering fully. The only things he could pick apart were feelings, sounds, and colors. Or well, the obvious lack of such color. 

He was distantly aware of a feeling of betrayal. A promise of freedom that was really a promise of a new cage to be put in. A cage far more deadlier than the first, and maybe they wanted a monster like him dead. A cage were blood was the currency for freedom, but it was home. A home with grey walls instead of white, and death hanging over your head like an anvil on a string. 

Every other day it was ‘game time.’ Each game day, Ranboo shrugged off scratchy grey clothes and forced himself into a suit with his past facility’s logo knitted onto the back of the suit jacket like a target. Each of these days passed, leaving nothing in his memory but screams and the sound of metal hitting metal. 

~~And every night I stared up at the ceiling wondering why I couldn’t hear the clock in my room anymore.~~

That part of his book is scribbled out. 

Anyway. 

He can remember being on a stage, and someone important being behind him. Anxiety paints the memory in purple, but it’s muted and dull. Every color seems dull these days. Ranboo remembers staring out into the crowd, feeling uncomfortable under so many eyes. The fabric of his mask presses weirdly to the scarred skin around his mouth. Suddenly his focus is off of his mask and on his head. An odd weight shifts there, balancing as he stands up. The crowd begins clapping but there’s no emotion- no emotion in anything anymore- 

Ranboo rolls over in his bed and stared at the gold crown that stood out against the darkness. There’s gems of all sorts twinkling and the sight of them makes him trail a hand down the neckline of his shirt. Something cold is held against his chest and he pulls it up. 

Two red and green gems stare up at him, twinkling in the faint moonlight coming from the window. 

The months have faded and blurred as they past. Late summer melting into spring, cooling into autum, and finally freezing into winter. As Ranboo peers down at the gems, he takes in every chip, every odd red splotch dotting the green gem. Every patch on the red one where some other liquid dried. These gems have been with him a long time, and he didn’t plan on losing them. 

He didn’t plan on dying with these forever hidden under his dress shirt. They seemed too important. Too sentimental and Prime, he missed having something to feel over. What? You think he’d be sad in this situation after all this time? No, it was just life. He was a monster. He’s a monster. 

~~No I’m not. They’re hurting us..~~

_They say we’re a monster..._

~~But we’re being forced-~~

_Well if the crown fits, wear it._

Ranboo lets the necklace fall on the outside of his shirt this time. With a huff, he sits up and looks out the window. He tugs his blankets around his shoulders and stares out of the glass. 

Snowflakes fall lazily, carrying themselves on the wind like they had nothing to worry about. The dark sky was a contrast to the pure white building up on the ground. Maybe any normal person would’ve thought it was cold, Ranboo thought it was warm. 

It was warm like a hybrid lady with violet hair- or was it black? And lively green eyes- or were the red? 

Ranboo isn’t sure. 

The winter reminds him of her, whoever she was. The sound of the name ‘Boo’ carried on gentle winter breezes. The smell of soup cooking for dinner, a family of misshaped snowmen. The pet cat of a woman who was grumpy but oddly had a soft spot for a two toned enderman hybrid. A baker with the best cake. 

It was all warm during the winter. 

~~Because he couldn’t remember the coldness of winter. Couldn’t remember the cold biting at him as he walked through a pillaged city. The coldness of a woman’s body- the cold stale taste of bread. The chilling sound of a bell echoing through the city.~~

Winter was warm from these fuzzy feelings- fuzzy memories. 

As Ranboo stared out into the unbothered snow, he remarked on how much colder summertime was. There was nothing there but too clean walls and pain when he thought of summer. Every summer he could remember was cold and lonely with these devils. 

So. 

He hatched a plan that night. Ranboo flipped through his memory book finding a date written in a childish scrawl. Three days from now. That was more than enough time. 

And if he chuckled to himself in the dark clean room, that was between him and the walls of Devil Town.

* * *

It’s the day before the plan when Ranboo is asked to pose for a painting. One they’ll send home, they say. 

So he sits there, pretty and perfect and wondering if they’ll paint the blood stains on the white parts of his gloves and mask. He wonders if they’ll paint the blood-he can’t remember how it got there but it’s there now and he doesn’t know how.- 

He gets to see the picture at the end. 

They didn’t put the blood stains. 

For a second he wonders if he’s the only one who could see them before the thought floats away as he signs his name on a piece of paper. 

Later that evening he gets to watch his name get carved into gold and filled with emeralds and rubies. 

Ranboo makes sure the plague and paintings are sent out before the day ends.

* * *

Day three passes with the usual crashing of metal against shields and arrows flying through the chilly air. With glass bottles breaking and body’s flung into the void. With the weight of a pickaxe in his gloves hands and fireworks spelling out his name. 

Ranboo is surprised they don’t find the flint and steels tucked inside his suit jacket. 

That night, he stays in the suit and waits. He watches as the snow outside falls and fore some reason he longs for it to be grey. Longs for it to be tinted with ash. The moon is high in the sky when he moves. 

The first thing he starts on fire is his bed, and for a moment he considers burning the book too. He didn’t want to remember his cages- the Devil Towns. That’s why he made sure the paintings were sent out- so he could know what he did if he ever forgot. 

Once his sheets hold the blaze, he throws the book onto it. The paper crackles and the smell burns his nose from under the mask. As he watches the fire grow, he feels nothing but at least he’s warm. 

His door opens and the person is too busy trying to set out the fire. Ranboo has been well behaved for a long time, he couldn’t have done it, right? 

Ranboo makes his way out the door, snagging the man’s keys before he could hurt Ranboo. 

Freedom is dangling like a carrot in front of his face, and he’s so hungry for it. He longs for freedom, for heat to return to summer. The feeling gives him a boost of energy as the heat behind him rises, giving him the energy to teleport. The action will make him feel terrible tomorrow but it’s worth it to hurl the flint and steel into the Hypixel archives, into the library. 

The screams are like the screams on the islands, faded in the background. The heat keeps spreading when he runs out of lighters. His fellow prisoners are freeing themselves, running from their handlers and fighting against them. 

Ranboo pays them no mind as he walks to the front of the building. The smoke is thick now, but he can’t find himself effected by it. He passes through one hallway where he can see someone pinned under the rubble. The ceiling is caved in exposing the room to the cold- 

~~Snow falls around a still eye-less body.~~

Pinned like a big is punishment man. His dull green eyes staring into Ranboo’s sunglasses covered eyes. With no caution, Ranboo walks into the room and crouches down to the man’s laying down form. 

“Help me you monster!” The man demands. 

Ranboo finds a smirk pulling at his mouth as he pulls his glasses to the top of his head. With his other hand, he pulls the mask down to under his chin. His eyes focus on the man’s chin. 

“That’s kinda funny. What did you call me?” Ranboo chuckles as he feels his throat dry- his lungs burn and eyes begin to water. 

“A monster!” The man yells. 

“You guys call me a monster,” Ranboo grasps the man’s collar. “Well, if the crown fits.” Gloves hands throw the man back down, and if Ranboo finds another flint and steel and throws it closer to the man, then he’s the only one that knows. 

Finally, he leaves the place. He stands about twenty feet away from the burning facility, listening as the structure freaks and falls apart. Watches as it collapses. The snow is soot colored, and he’s never felt warmer in his life. 

Ranboo walks down a snow path as the building burns behind him, humming a song in Enderonic he hummed to himself years ago in a deserted city. 

~~Not that he remembers humming the song before.~~

“Devil Town is warmer in the winter time...” He sings softly in tune to the song with a hoarse voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Hope you liked the show! It was on a budget!” 
> 
> That’s it. That’s Devil town. 
> 
> Also I have the playlist ready but I don’t know how to link it??? Help??? 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed <3
> 
> ((I know I pulled the crown line twice but it felt right ^^’))

**Author's Note:**

> The third worst thing to happen to that Orphan. 
> 
> Psssst: come yell at me on Twitter 
> 
> @Vivacious_V1rgo :) 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed because I had no clue what I was doing
> 
> Edit:  
> Playlist (This will go with the whole series):  
> ["Angst Motivation"](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1mwMm7pVpB39QPK7Mq5FEP?si=ECajxUARTeOfz3rNpA4IEA)


End file.
